Fatherhood Factor

For all the "dealings" of dads...

Parenting

What You Need To Consider Before Overlanding With Family

By Leave a Comment

Spending time with the family as you venture out into the world creates great memories to share later. But before you hit the road and stray from the beaten path, there are some parts of your journey to consider. Read on to learn what to consider before overlanding with your family and make a great family trip into the wilderness.

The Weather

One of the most crucial parts of any overlanding trip is the forecast. Consider the weather you and your family will experience on the trip and determine what you need to prepare for it. Thunderstorms may cause slick mud, which presents risks of sliding on steep grades or getting stuck.

Heat waves may tucker out the kids and increase the chance of heat stroke if you have inadequate hydration or cooling methods. Look ahead at the forecast to avoid storms or dangerous weather. Mother Nature is unpredictable, but having a better idea of what the meteorologist foresees will increase your chances of having a decent trip with your loved ones.

Packing

Depending on the size of your family, packing may be a tricky objective. Storing numerous bags, food, and people in one vehicle may be a challenge, and it’s an important part to consider before overlanding with family. You’ll have an easier time packing if you have a larger, more reliable vehicle like a camper, van, or SUV.

For example, a number of overlanding upgrades for your VW SUV can help with cargo considerations, such as a rear-mounted cargo carrier. Add a makeshift storage shelf that increases carrying capacity and organization with an extra storage level.

Roof racks will also help you carry more items on top of the vehicle and save elbow room for the family inside. Consider every way to utilize space in the vehicle for an easier time packing and transporting cargo.

Your Route

Although overlanding is about exploring, you still need to have a route for the journey. There are a finite number of paths available when you go off-roading. These paths are marked on other maps by overlanders who’ve charted them.

Choose the best routes for your family overlanding trip that provide a clear way into uncharted areas and back home. Do your best to stay near the path as you test new paths and chart new courses for other overlanders.

It’s always a great feeling to get outdoors with your family, and exploring the world is an excellent journey the kids will love. Consider these parts of your overlanding journey and keep everyone safe and ready for adventure.

Delicious Meals That Help Boost Your Energy

By Leave a Comment

Being a parent is one of the best feelings in the world, but it requires a lot of energy. While chasing down the little ones, helping with homework, and teaching your teens the ways of life, keeping a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle is important. You must be there for your children and set good examples, so that means changing unhealthy eating habits and eating more fulfilling foods.

Eating whole foods, exercising three to five times a week, and prioritizing wellness are the best ways to obtain a healthy lifestyle! Here are four delicious meals that can boost your energy and make it easy to eat healthy.

Tex-Mex Scrambled Eggs and Potatoes

Start your day with a blast of savory and spice. Create a yummy Tex-Mex scrambled egg dish with a side of potatoes for you and the little ones. Add bell peppers, tomatoes, black beans, and cheese to your fluffy eggs for the perfect bite. You can also add sausage, chorizo, or any meat you want to the dish. Don’t forget to save room for your crispy homestyle potatoes on the side!

Classic Steak and Egg Breakfast

People who’ve served in the military love a steak and egg breakfast, and for good reason! It’s filling, energy-boosting, and tasty. Starting your day with a steak will promote muscle growth, boost your mood, and kickstart your metabolism. Cooking a steak on a Monday may be hard, so treat yourself to steak and eggs on the weekends.

Salmon, Rice, and Avocado Bowl

A salmon and rice bowl with veggies is a quick and easy lunch or dinner. You can customize this bowl to your liking. Adding broccoli, green beans, asparagus, brussels sprouts, carrots, or all of the above will get the job done. This yummy bowl is great for the family to enjoy and have leftovers throughout the week.

Stir-Fried Protein, Veggies, and Noodles

A stir-fried noodle dish is another tasty meal that will help to boost your energy. You can get protein from chicken, steak, tofu, or cashews. Serving this meal is a great way to encourage your kiddos to eat vegetables dressed in a delicious garlic-teriyaki sauce. Adding noodles to this dish can also stretch throughout the week, so you don’t have to worry about cooking every night.

Outdoor Family Excursions To Try This Summer

By Leave a Comment

Can you believe it’s summer already? It’s finally time to hit the road for family fun and create unforgettable memories. This summer, you should make it a priority to spend more time outdoors. You can do many things, such as fishing by the lake or biking with the kiddos. So pack the sunscreen, bring the Bluetooth speaker, and gather some snacks because we’re about to go on an adventure! Keep reading for a few outdoor family excursions to try this summer to make this break unforgettable.

Go Fishing With the Family

Spend your summer by a body of water! Relax with your family at a nearby lake, spring, or beach. And for an activity to do during this excursion, consider fishing. This is a great way to educate your children about the natural habitat while teaching boat and fishing safety. You can end the day retreating to land to have a nice picnic, reminiscing on all the big fish you caught!

Plan a Camping Adventure

Another great way to spend the summer break with your family is to plan a camping adventure. Camping is a wonderful time for your family to bond and tell silly fireside stories. Building a campfire and toasting marshmallows while gazing at the stars is a classic way to kick off the summer season.

If your child isn’t ready to head out to the campsites, you can host a camping adventure in your backyard! You can create the same camping experience in the comfort of your property. Bonus points if you set up an outdoor movie screen for a summer movie night.

Go on a Summer Hunting Trip

Another fun outdoor family excursion to try this summer is going on a hunting trip. If your family is interested in hunting, there are various opportunities around the country to try it. From feral hog hunting in Texas to squirrel hunting in Michigan, you can find a challenge for you and your family. Florida is also a great option because it offers year-round hunting and invasive species hunting challenges during the summer. To plan a family hunting trip to Florida, do some research and get the proper licensing and permits.

Bond With the Family Over a Hike

Challenge your family to complete a beginner hiking trial. Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature while walking along family-friendly paths. Keep things simple and go for trails that are shorter distances. Be sure to pack lots of water, snacks, and sunscreen. Also, ensure your kiddos stay on the path to prevent accidents or injuries. You can make the hike a nature scavenger hunt or environmental lesson. Either way, hiking is a memorable experience for the whole family.

The Key Features of Your Home To Childproof

By Leave a Comment

Childproofing your home is one of the most important things you can do if any babies or toddlers are going to be present in the space. Children like to explore but don’t always realize the dangers around them. That’s why childproofing is vital to keep them safe. To help you childproof your home, we discuss a few key things you should focus on.

Anchoring Furniture

Whether it’s small or large, moving or shifting furniture can be dangerous. You don’t want a child to pull on a shelf or lean on a chair only to hurt themselves because it tumbled over on top of them. You should make sure to anchor your furniture so that a child cannot move it to prevent dangerous situations.

Preventing Falls

Toddlers and babies aren’t always the best at walking, which can make simple obstacles a lot more dangerous. Clean up your place so that there are very few obstacles obstructing walkways, and always block off anything that may lead to bad falls. The key location for this is the stairs, as a fall down there can be disastrous.

Locking Doors

Children like to explore and won’t limit themselves only to the spaces they can see. Many children will try to explore different rooms and the outdoors by opening doors. To keep them safe, lock your doors with childproof locks so that they can’t move around without permission or supervision. You may need to do things like this to childproof sliding glass doors in your home.

Removing Choking Hazards

Sometimes children will try to taste or eat things they shouldn’t. This can cause some real problems if they eat something they can’t handle. Take the time to remove anything small enough to fit in their mouths and place it in a safe space. This includes anything that can break easily into smaller parts or things like batteries or utensils.

As long as you can tackle these key features, you can make your home a lot safer with this childproofing. You must ensure you thoroughly childproof every part of the home the child has access to, as it can be quite dangerous for young kids.

Fun and Simple Things for Dads To Do With Kids

By Leave a Comment

Being a dad can be a lot of work, and it’s nice to get out and have fun now and again. Luckily, the warm weather gives you a chance to do something you can all enjoy.

Don’t waste your time deciding what to do this year. There’s no shortage of fun activities for you to try. Here are some fun and simple things for dads to do with kids.

Play a Game

If you just want to stay home this summer, but still want some exciting activities, you can play a game to liven things up. Board games, cards, or even video games can be a lot of fun when getting together with other players.

Outdoor games and activities are great if the weather is nice. Baseball, basketball, and soccer are common sports anyone can participate in. You can also try frisbee golf, cornhole, or croquet for a more laid-back experience.

Go Out to Dinner

Another thing you can do with your kids while keeping things simple is go out to your favorite restaurant for dinner. Going out with family and friends to socialize and have a nice meal can make the day stand out. You can even go to a movie or other event afterward.

Restaurants make a nice location for a small party or get-together. Just remember to make reservations ahead of time in case it gets busy. If you want to give your kids something nice, learning how to prevent poor gift presentation will ensure they appreciate the sentiment.

Plan a Camping Trip

If you want to do something a bit more exciting, planning a simple camping trip could be just the ticket. Getting out for a few days of rest and relaxation during the summer months might be just what you need to get close to your kids.

A camping trip can be a lot of fun for those who enjoy outdoor activities. You can get some fresh air while spending your time swimming, fishing, canoeing, and hiking. However, many of the most popular sites are booked well in advance between Memorial Day and Labor Day, so make plans as soon as possible.

Make the Most of Your Time Together

Spending time with your kids is important. While it can be easy to let the days slip by, getting out and having fun will make them more memorable.

With so many fun and simple things for dads to do with kids, finding something you all enjoy should be easy.

Fun Ways To Increase Your Kids’ Physical Activity

By Leave a Comment

It’s unfortunate that many kids today don’t live as active of a life as they should. Physical activity is incredibly important, as it helps promote a long and happy life with fewer health risks. Moreover, staying physically active also provides us with endorphins that help us maintain our mood and stress levels. However, encouraging our children to get off the couch can be difficult—especially when we have to compete with streaming services, social media, video games, and so much more. But there’s no need to worry since there are many fun ways to increase your kids’ physical activity.

Work Out With Them

Some kids like to imitate what their parents do. While that can be intimidating, it’s also a great opportunity to show by doing. If you work out and maintain an active lifestyle, so will they, as they want to be just like you. As such, you might consider taking them along for one of your workouts. Or if you’re looking to get active yourself, you can start together by working out with them.

Make It a Craft

If your kids are more interested in crafts, you can still prompt them to move by mixing the two together. But how does this work? You can start with a fun craft like making a rocket out of pool noodles. In fact, there are a couple of exciting pool noodles activities for kids to do and interact with. Once they finish their rocket, you can head outside and toss it around. They’ll have so much fun chasing after the rocket and trying their hardest to throw it as far as possible to see it fly.

Try a Silly Game

Of course, a fun way to increase your kids’ physical activity is to do so without them noticing. That’s where a silly game always comes in handy. You can make up a fun game where you prompt them to find the nearest orange object as quickly as possible. Or you can head to your local arcade and entice them with a game of Dance Dance Revolution. These are incredibly fun yet physically demanding activities they’ll enjoy doing so much that they won’t even realize they’re breaking a sweat.

Simple Ways To Help Your Child Find a Hobby They Love

By Leave a Comment

As a father, you always want to be there for your child and help guide them as they grow older. Part of that guidance means showing them what’s right and wrong, but it also means helping them explore themselves and discover what they want to pursue in life. There are many ways you can help your child find a hobby they love, which they’ll hold with them for the rest of their lives. Help them find those hobbies, and maybe even find a hobby you can enjoy together!

Let Them Dip Their Toes

One of the best ways to help your child find a hobby they’ll love is by helping them feel free to dip their toes in as many hobbies as they want. The world is full of exciting pursuits, and you need to let your child explore all of them, including hobbies like:

  • Creative writing
  • Movies
  • Video games
  • Baking
  • Gardening
  • Music
  • Sports

It’s challenging to know what your child may resonate with right away, so give them the time and space to find a hobby that clicks with them.

Personal Satisfaction Is All That Matters

In today’s culture of grinding and hustling, people are starting to move away from simple hobbies that bring them joy and onto ones that make money. Collecting sports cards used to always be about having fun and building your collection, but the media has framed this hobby as one where the only way to truly enjoy it is if you’re making money. In reality, debunking this sports trading card myth is easy. They can do something as simple as trading cards, art, or any form of collecting for the love of the hobby, not to make money.

Don’t Overcompensate

If you love movies or some sport, it’s so easy to accidentally make your child like them too, ignoring the reality that they may just like pleasing you. It’s easy to subtly do this over the years, but you can also do this while exploring new hobbies for your child. If you invest in a lot of art supplies for them or get them a musical instrument, you can become passionate about the hobby, even if your child isn’t.

When helping your child find their hobby, be sure not to overcompensate—learn to step back and let them find what they enjoy. Additionally, be sure to let them know early on that they don’t feel the need to fake liking something. Kids are smart, and if they see you’ve spent a lot of money on something, they may be more inclined to lie about whether something is making them happy.

With these simple ways to help your child find a hobby they love, you and your child can find hobbies that help keep them active and happy. Something as simple as gardening or cooking can be a hobby your child will love, but they’ll likely never discover it on their own. It’s up to you as their parent to help introduce them to all the world has to offer, including these hobbies.